Search Results (132)

Clarifying the coordination and impediments of social, economic, and spatial connection in rural areas is essential for advancing rural revitalization, urban-rural integration, and regional coordinated development. Utilizing the 24 counties and districts in western Hunan as case studies, we developed an evaluation index system for sustainable rural development across three dimensions: social, economic, and spatial. We employed the coupling model, coordination model, and obstacle factor model to investigate the comprehensive development level, coupling and coordination status, and obstacle factors of the villages in the study area at three temporal points: 2002, 2012, and 2022. The findings indicate the following: (1) The degree of rural development in western Hunan has escalated swiftly throughout the study period, transitioning from relative homogeneity to a heterogeneous developmental landscape, accompanied by issues such as inadequate development and regional polarization. (2) The overall rural social, economic, and spatial indices are low, and the degree of coupling has increased variably across different study periods; the average coordination degree has gradually improved over time, yet the level of coordination remains low, and spatial development is unbalanced. (3) The criterion-level impediments hindering the sustainable development of rural society, economy, and space are, in descending order, social factors, spatial factors, and economic factors. The urbanization rate, total fixed investment rate, and arable land change rate are the primary impediments in most counties and cities. The study’s findings will inform the planning of rural development in ethnic regions, promote sustainable social and spatial advancement in the countryside, and serve as a reference for rural revitalization efforts. Full article

The Greek islands have been blessed with excellent wind potential, with hundreds of sites featuring annual average wind velocity higher than 8–10 m/s. Due to specific regulations in the legal framework, some GWs of wind parks have been submitted since the late 2000s by a small number of large investors in the Greek islands, favoring the creation of energy monopolies and imposing serious impacts on natural ecosystems and existing human activities. These projects have caused serious public reactions against renewables, considerably decelerating the energy transition. This article aims to summarize the legal points in the Greek framework that caused this distorted approach and present the imposed potential social and environmental impacts. Energy monopolies distort the electricity wholesale market and lead to energy poverty and a low standard of living by imposing higher electricity procurement prices on the final users. The occupation of entire insular geographical territories by large wind park projects causes important deterioration of the natural environment, which, in turn, leads to loss of local occupations, urbanization, and migration by affecting negatively the countryside life. Serious concerns from the local population are clearly revealed through an accomplished statistical survey as well as a clear intention to be engaged in future wind park projects initiated by local stakeholders. The article is integrated with specific proposed measures and actions toward the rational development of renewable energy projects. These refer mainly on the formulation of a truly supportive and just legal framework aiming at remedying the currently formulated situation and the strengthening of the energy communities’ role, such as through licensing priorities, funding mechanisms, and tools, as well as additional initiatives such as capacity-building activities, pilot projects, and extensive activation of local citizens. Energy communities and local stakeholders should be involved in the overall process, from the planning to the construction and operation phase. Full article

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) in urban parks, as a vital component of urban ecosystem services (ES), are increasingly recognized as an important tool for advancing urban sustainability and implementing nature-based solutions (NbS). The supply–demand relationship of CES in urban parks is strongly shaped by sociocultural and spatial geographic factors, playing a crucial role in optimizing urban landscape structures and enhancing residents’ well-being. However, current research generally lacks adaptive evaluation frameworks and quantitative methods, particularly for cities with significant spatial and cultural diversity. To address this gap, this study examines the central district of Lhasa as a case study to develop a CES supply–demand evaluation framework suitable for plateau river valley cities. The study adopts the spatial integration analysis method to establish an indicator system centered on “recreational potential–recreational opportunities” and “social needs–material needs,” mapping the spatial distribution and matching characteristics of supply and demand at the community scale. The results reveal that: (1) in terms of supply–demand balance, 25.67% of communities experience undersupply, predominantly in the old city cluster, while 16.22% experience oversupply, mainly in key development zones, indicating a notable supply–demand imbalance; (2) in terms of supply–demand coupling coordination, 55.11% and 38.14% of communities are in declining and transitional stages, respectively. These communities are primarily distributed in near-mountainous and peripheral urban areas. Based on these findings, four urban landscape optimization strategies are proposed: culturally driven urban park development, demand-oriented park planning, expanding countryside parks along mountain ridges, and revitalizing existing parks. These results provide theoretical support and decision-making guidance for optimizing urban park green space systems in plateau river valley cities. Full article

Rural settlement is the main vehicle for the existence and development of the countryside. The functions of rural settlements vary across different regions, influencing land use patterns. This study conducted multi-function evaluations of rural settlements by selecting three representative villages from different locations in Hebei Province, China. This was achieved through the establishment of an evaluation indicator system and the adoption of methods such as coordination degree, dominance degree, and obstacle factor diagnosis. This paper also used the Markov and CLUE-S models to predict future changes in land use within these settlements. The results showed that the closer the relationship between rural settlements and towns, the more obvious the settlement’s overall function becomes. Suburban settlements showed the highest multi-function coordination degree, with a prominent living function, but lagged in production and ecological functions. These villages should prioritize areas for commercial, landscape, and greening land to better serve the urban areas. Exurban villages excel in production but fall short in ecological and residential aspects. These areas should allocate land for environmental and infrastructure development to support a larger peasant population. Remote villages showed good multi-functionality, with a strong focus on eco-friendliness. However, they lacked in production and living function. Future plans should include converting residential areas to commercial use and enhancing public services and infrastructure to raise the living standards of villagers. Full article

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) acknowledges that the landscape is an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere, in urban areas and the countryside, in degraded areas as well as higher quality areas and recognized as being of outstanding beauty, as well as in everyday areas. Nowadays, many suburbs, arisen as public housing neighborhoods and originally located in peri-urban areas, in addition to constituting a substantial part of the built heritage, are increasingly being configured as new strategic areas, redefining the daily landscape of its users. With the post-occupancy evaluation method (POE), it is possible to assess several aspects of the performance of buildings or open spaces from the users’ perspective, taking into consideration objective and subjective factors. It is a multi-method approach, combining interviews, customer satisfaction surveys, behavioral observation, etc. With this perspective, the article, dealing with the ‘Parco dei Murales’, which is a complex of public housing localized in the Ponticelli suburb in the city of Naples (Italy), aims to understand the visual and qualitative perception of the suburban landscape in the light of the transformation processes that have occurred in recent years. For this purpose, starting from the results of the first application of a user satisfaction survey, the post occupancy evaluation has been applied, analyzing the functional, social, and perceptual attributes of the open spaces of the park. Full article

Cultural heritage resources represent a vital aspect of tourism in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, an area characterized by its ethnic minority heritage. This study innovatively proposes a classification framework for cultural heritage based on the principles of protection and the demands of tourism development. For the first time, it combines kernel density analysis and spatial autocorrelation methods to conduct a quantitative study on the geographical distribution of cultural heritage in Ningxia, covering aspects such as scale, structure, distribution characteristics, and influencing factors. The findings reveal: (1) Religious and Ceremonial Sites: Ningxia boasts the highest number of religious and ceremonial sites, totaling 1741. (2) Geographical Distribution: Resources are distributed in a multicore pattern, concentrated in Longde and Zhongning Counties, while the central and western areas are less rich. (3) Regional Concentration: The eastern region shows a high concentration of resources, contrasting with the low concentration in the north. (4) Influencing Factors: Social factors like GDP per capita, urbanization, and population density significantly affect this spatial pattern, although natural factors like altitude are also important. Consequently, the paper recommends increased government investment in cultural heritage tourism; enhanced integration of heritage tourism between urban core areas and countryside zones; increased investment in the protection and development of cultural heritage in high-altitude and remote areas. These findings aim to promote the sustainable growth of Ningxia’s cultural heritage and offer insights for similar regions. Full article

Rural landscapes are experiencing ecosystem degradation due to urbanization and rapid suburban expansion. Ecosystem services derived from natural resources and essential public services facilitated by social capital collectively address the growingly diverse social and ecological requirements of rural residents. Even so, ecosystem services and public services are often trade-offs, highlighting the necessity to enhance their coordinated development. However, it remains unclear how to use the identified thresholds to delineate functional zones. This will scientifically guide sound and efficient spatial planning and ecological management. This study takes the suburban countryside of Jiangning in Nanjing as the study area. It explores the inclusion of the threshold value of rural public services and ecosystem services in the strategic design of sustainable suburban development in China. First, we quantify and map six types of ecosystem services (ESs) and 13 types of rural public services (RPSs). Secondly, we use the piecewise linear regression method to identify the response and threshold of 13 types of RPSs to six kinds of ESs. Finally, the combination and classification of threshold values are used to divide functional areas, and space-specific management and planning suggestions are put forward. The results are as follows (1) With the increase in RPSs, all ESs respond with a downward trend. (2) In addition to the negative linear relationship between education and social welfare services and ESs, the response thresholds of other RPSs and ESs were identified. (3) According to multiple density threshold analysis of each RPS’s response to ESs, four functional areas were obtained. We emphasize the priority of spatial planning and management, that is, the priority management of “ESs enhancement area and RPSs optimization area”. (4) The threshold values of ESs and RPSs can be used as tools to delineate functional zones and guide the spatial planning and management of rural functional areas. In general, our research helps ensure the maximization of rural ecological benefits while also meeting the growing diversity of needs of rural residents and enabling efficient, phased, gradient, and precise spatial management of suburban rural ecosystems and public services to promote the sustainable development of suburban rural areas and realize rural revitalization. Full article

Air pollution in urban environments is a complex, multidimensional issue that significantly impacts public health and people’s well-being. Previous studies have tended to focus on general public awareness in metropolitan urban areas. The novelty of this study lies in examining whether perceptions regarding air pollution and the urban environment differ based on specific demographic characteristics such as age and dwelling place in a provincial city of Greece. Thus, a quantitative cross-sectional research approach was employed, resulting in the collection of 659 valid questionnaires from residents in the wider area of Volos city. To analyze the data, one-way ANOVA was applied to reveal differences in perceptions of air pollution and its effects on urban well-being. The results indicate that perceptions vary by age, particularly concerning the effects of air pollution on the natural environment. Participants acknowledge that air pollution levels differ across cities of various sizes and recognize the adverse effects of pollution on the overall well-being of urban areas. Furthermore, our analysis reveals significant differences in perceptions between urban and rural residents. Particularly, people living in the city tend to report higher awareness of air pollution levels compared to those in the countryside, highlighting the need for targeted interventions tailored to specific communities. Overall, this study underscores the importance of understanding demographic influences on perceptions of air quality, which can inform policymaking and public health initiatives aimed at improving air quality and mitigating health risks in urban settings. Full article

Background: The association between oral cavities and the SARS-CoV-2 virus is an issue commonly analyzed and studied. In our study, the relationship between the dental status and social environment of patients receiving treatment during the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination was analyzed. Methods: This retrospective study was based on 2034 dental records obtained from the Institute of Dentistry of the Medical University of Lodz. The collected data pertaining to caries enabled the assessment of the oral cavity health of individual patients and could be compared with the undergoing vaccination against COVID-19. Results: The statistically significant results showed that unvaccinated patients compared to vaccinated patients had more teeth with caries, less teeth extracted due to caries, more teeth in total, and lower DMFT and dental treatment indexes. It was shown that, with increased age, the value of the DMFT index increases. Statistically significant differences between patients living in rural and urban areas were as follows: rural residents showed lower DMFT and filling indexes. Conclusions: No direct relationship between the vaccination of patients and oral health has been proven. Statistically, the group of vaccinated patients are significantly older than the unvaccinated, and the significant differences between the above groups are most likely due to the difference in the average age of patients in the two groups. Our study showed a lower average DMFT index and a higher treatment intensity index in people from the countryside compared to those living in a large city. In this respect, our study stands in opposition to the existing research findings. Full article

Semantic change detection (SCD) is a newly important topic in the field of remote sensing (RS) image interpretation since it provides semantic comprehension for bi-temporal RS images via predicting change regions and change types and has great significance for urban planning and ecological monitoring. With the availability of large scale bi-temporal RS datasets, various models based on deep learning (DL) have been widely applied in SCD. Since convolution operators in DL extracts two-dimensional feature matrices in the spatial dimension of images and stack feature matrices in the dimension termed the channel, feature maps of images are tri-dimensional. However, recent SCD models usually overlook the stereoscopic property of feature maps. Firstly, recent SCD models are usually limited in capturing spatial global features in the process of bi-temporal global feature extraction and overlook the global channel features. Meanwhile, recent SCD models only focus on spatial cross-temporal interaction in the process of change feature perception and ignore the channel interaction. Thus, to address above two challenges, a novel fine-grained feature perception network (FFPNet) is proposed in this paper, which employs the Omni Transformer (OiT) module to capture bi-temporal channel–spatial global features before utilizing the Omni Cross-Perception (OCP) module to achieve channel–spatial interaction between cross-temporal features. According to the experiments on the SECOND dataset and the LandsatSCD dataset, our FFPNet reaches competitive performance on both countryside and urban scenes compared with recent typical SCD models. Full article

Background: Pregnancy termination (PT) is a major public health concern in low-and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors of PT using the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data 2017–2018. Materials and Methods: A weighted population-based sample of 8759 ever-married reproductive-aged women (15–49 years) was included in the study. The outcome variable was PT in any of the following forms: miscarriage, induced abortion, and stillbirth. A univariate analysis for mean, frequency, and percentage and multiple logistical regression were used to determine the factors associated with PT. Results: Around 18% of the women were found to have PT. The mean age of the women in the study was 25.79 years; 65.1% lived in the rural areas, and the majority of them were Muslims. Advanced age of the women (AOR:3.49, p = 0.004), residence in the countryside (AOR:0.81, p = 0.002), higher education (AOR:0.72, p = 0.027), not being a Muslim (AOR:0.74, p = 0.010), higher socio-economic status (AOR:1.28, p = 0.027), having a job (AOR:1.15, p = 0.041), being married at the age of >22 years (AOR:0.71, p = 0.036), and using a mobile phone (AOR:1.22, p = 0.002) were significant factors of PT. This study did not find any association between PT and contraceptive use. Conclusions: Age, living region, education, religion, wealth index, working status, marital age, and mobile phone use are the determinants of PT. Interventions including these factors need to be made to reduce PT in Bangladeshi women. These findings could be helpful in undertaking further epidemiological studies to understand the actual causes of PT in various rural and urban settings among different socio-demographic groups in Bangladesh. Full article

In this work, the attenuation of surface seismic waves from large-scale phononic metamaterials is numerically studied. The proposed metamaterials consist of rectangular trenches that form either I-shaped or T-shaped cavities embedded at the ground surface. The numerical investigation includes the study of the response of the proposed structures for different values of their geometric parameters. In addition, modifications of the proposed structures where heavy cores coated with a soft material were considered in the cavities were also numerically studied. For a more realistic numerical approach, the transmission spectrum of a selected large-scale phononic metamaterial was also investigated in a suitable half-space numerical scheme. The results of the present research showed that the studied large-scale metastructures could be a very promising potential candidate for seismic shielding applications for the protection of existing urban or countryside structures. The proposed metamaterials are low in cost and easy to construct for the protection of existing buildings, critical infrastructures, or even entire urban areas without need for any kind of intervention at them, therefore providing an effective solution in the field of seismic isolation. Full article

Against the backdrop of urban–rural integration development in China, the government has further strengthened its support for rural migrant workers’ urban employment and entrepreneurship, as well as their urbanization. Nevertheless, influenced by the current urban–rural development environment and public policies, a portion of rural migrant workers have evolved into two distinct groups: those with clear intentions to settle in cities or return to their hometowns and those trapped in a “neither-nor” situation, who are unable to fully integrate into urban life or seamlessly return to the countryside. This study, based on field investigations conducted in 21 cities across seven major geographical regions in China, reveals a ternary differentiation in migration intentions among rural migrant workers: “Retain in the cities”, “Return flow”, and “Blind direction”. In advancing the urban–rural integration strategy, the “clearly-oriented” groups, choosing to stay or return, can serve as dynamic forces in reconciling resources between urban and rural areas, thereby fostering closer urban–rural ties. Conversely, the “aimless wandering” group, characterized by stagnation, confusion, frequent mobility, and recurrent unemployment, poses numerous negative impacts on urban–rural interaction and coordination, hindering the in-depth integration of urban and rural areas to some extent. Drawing upon the internationally recognized Push-Pull Theory and Social Integration Theory within the field of population migration, this study conducts an empirical analysis of large-scale sample data to explore the characteristic factors and formation mechanisms underlying the “staying”, “returning”, and “blind direction” intentions, with a particular focus on the internal dynamics shaping and evolving the “aimless wandering” group. Finally, grounded in the empirical findings, this study advocates a collaborative approach between the Chinese government and various sectors of society to address the issue by promoting employment guidance, enhancing security measures, and other initiatives that encourage rural migrant workers to either stay in cities or return to their hometowns. It aims to provide policy recommendations for a definitive resolution of the rural migrant worker issue during the crucial period of urban–rural integration development. Full article

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted stress levels across various professions, particularly in the medical field. This increase in stress has also affected medical students, including nursing students, who faced unprecedented and challenging circumstances. Nursing students, in particular, experienced added pressure due to observing the frontline experiences of nurses and the new demands placed upon them. Aim: This study aimed to assess whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected an increase in stress levels among nursing students in Poland during the pandemic. We also attempt to determine whether there is a correlation between the stress level of students and factors such as gender, age, place of residence, marital status, and level of education. Assuming that the stress level will be higher among women of increasing age and bachelor’s students, we also assumed, however, that lower stress levels would occur among people in relationships and living in the countryside. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from 27 April 2022 to 12 May 2022. We chose that period as it was the final one of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was an increasing amount of discussion concerning its cessation, with the public accustomed to its presence in our everyday lives. Since we wanted to determine the stress level experienced by students, we decided to use the standardized Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). We enriched the study with sociodemographic questions to investigate the potential impact of these characteristics on the degree of stress experienced. Results: The average score obtained by respondents on the PSS-10 was 19.57 ± 6.03. Of the respondents, 49% reported experiencing a high level of stress. No statistically significant differences were found between the mean PSS-10 scores and the gender (Z = 0.169; p = 0.865), age (F = 1.282, p = 0.281), marital status (Z = −0.776, p = 0.437), or place of residence (urban vs. rural) (Z = −0.784, p = 0.433) of the respondents. The mean PSS-10 scores were also analyzed regarding the level of education (bachelor’s vs. master’s). Bachelor’s students had an average PSS-10 score of 18.95 ± 6.42, while master’s students scored 20.05 ± 5.70. Again, no statistically significant differences were found (t = −1.102, p = 0.2720). Conclusions: The study indicated that nursing students experience high stress levels regardless of gender, age, marital status, place of residence, or level of education. High stress levels were reported among both bachelor’s and master’s students. Full article

Entrepreneurial activities are crucial for activating the endogenous power of the countryside, promoting integrated urban and rural development, and achieving comprehensive rural revitalization. This paper empirically examines the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial activities influence rural revitalization by incorporating the theory of dissipative structures into the research paradigm of rural revitalization. Using interdisciplinary analysis methods, it deeply analyzes the underlying logic of entrepreneurial activities affecting rural revitalization, relying on panel data from 2045 counties from 2011 to 2020. The study finds that entrepreneurial activities attract negative entropy flows, such as information and materials, into the rural revitalization system by increasing employment opportunities and promoting capital agglomeration. This fosters a stable and orderly dissipative structure within the system, thereby empowering comprehensive rural revitalization. The heterogeneity test indicates that the promotion effect of entrepreneurial activities on rural revitalization is more pronounced in the eastern region and non-e-commerce demonstration counties. Further research reveals that the facilitating effect of entrepreneurial activities on the rural revitalization system is particularly evident in four dimensions: ecological viability, a civilized rural culture, effective governance, and an affluent life. This study provides theoretical and empirical support for implementing the rural revitalization strategy in China. Full article